Grocery shopping tips during Coronavirus quarantine #2

[killarney rose]

I never cared for regular cola soft drinks. They were always too sweet for me. Then I discovered Diet Pepsi. To me it tastes like regular Pepsi, just not too sweet. I love it.

 

[ilovewings]

I've read that Italian canned tuna that is packed in olive oil is tasty, but it seems quite expensive for a small can. When Michigan tomatoes become plentiful, maybe I'll buy a can and make tuna salad stuffed tomatoes.

i have to admit i love tuna-

I had my fill of canned tuna growing up: Tuna noodle casserole, tuna loaf with creamed peas, tuna salad sandwiches in our school lunches, tuna salad stuffed tomatoes, etc. Enough! I can't even remember the last time I bought canned tuna. DH and I like ahi tuna steaks occasionally, and I've made tuna burgers with fresh tuna. Canned tuna? No way.

i have to admit i am really into tuna pasta salad for lunches---albacore tuna only

 

[Lato]

Hi friends.....I am making my "list" for tomorrow. Daughter and son-in-law go grocery shopping for me and for his Mom every Friday morning. If you arrive at the local stores between 7 and 8 am, everything is cleaned and stocked. We are looking for creole tomatoes and a/c filters along with milk and bread and eggs. It has been an adventure for them and for me. Sometimes I take a photo of the container I would like......like Duke's or Hellman's. Also getting some ingredients for meatloaf and gravy.
I think this is the fourth month of the "sit and stay"program.
Miss you all.......Lato (from southern Louisiana)

 

[PayrollNerd]

My daughter was on a research vessel for 10 days. During the down time the crew was catching tuna!! How timely. I don’t think I ever fed this kid tuna in her life. However, the chef made ahi tuna, seared tuna and tuna salad. To my shock, my kid said she liked all 3 meals. No doubt this was because it was fresh tuna but still. LOL!

 

[oviedo]

Hi Seenit,

Imo, it’s the same things we were talking about in Feb:

1. Make sure you have your prescriptions ready to go / try to get a 90 day refill prescribed and get it now. This will ensure you don’t have to go to the pharmacy, or face any possible shortages. Also see if your pharmacy delivers.

2. Have your pantry stocked with shelf stable goods that can sustain: soups, broth, rice, beans, pasta, sauces, condiments. I say condiments because they help give some excitement and variety to the banal. And if you have a ready made sauce, it’ll suffice for no fresh ingredients.

3. Have an extra bottle of bleach on hand. We know this kills the virus, and it goes a long way, better than wipes, imo, which are hard to find anyway. It can be diluted and you can get a whole bucket out of just a little bleach, with the proper ratios.

4. Have all your pet goods, including food, treats, chews and medications. (I say chews/bones because I forgot those the last time and my dog was not happy).

5. Any over the counter things you need, a big bottle of Tylenol, tums, etc.

6. Have minimal toiletries- soap, etc.

If you slowly try to get these, say a few extra cans here and there when you shop, then there’s no hoarding going on and less strain on supply chains when stuff hits the fan. It’s also economically easier than having to suddenly buy a bunch of stuff. Plus, you can get it now while it is available.

I’ve realized since March what I do and don’t want to live without. I’ve realized I don’t want to live without cheese and mustard lol, especially if I’m stuck eating sandwiches all the time. I think this is what you should think about: what can and can’t you live without. If you are stuck in your house during the cold months, what will you want? I have some extra teabags and coffee. I’ve also learned certain things don’t last around here, like some snacks, so I’ve been focusing on more “meal based” items for “sustenance”.

I learned potatoes were impossible to find. So the past month I’ve bought potatoes, boiled, chopped and frozen them in small portions. This way I can just grab a small portion for soup, or casserole, or hash browns or mashed.

I have 4 stackable containers in my freezer. Each container has a pack of bacon, a pack of cheese, a pack of tortillas, a pack of lunchmeat, some meat, vegetables and potatoes.

I also have bought things like minced onion, garlic powder etc should fresh produce be a problem.

I wonder if toilet paper will become extinct again. I’ve gotten a couple extra packs of those now while it’s available, just incase.

These are a few thoughts. If I think of anything else I’ll tag ya.

sharing from the main thread - many think we may need to stock up and hunker down again.

 

[branmuffin]

There need to be limits and I'm glad for them. It's possible to have a well stocked pantry without hoarding items so that others can't find what they need.

We have a pantry in our new house. Forget the deck and the 9 foot ceiling heights on the main floor AND the basement. It was the pantry that sold me. It had no shelves so I kitted it out with Ivar shelves from IKEA which are amazing.

I'm not a hoarder but I do stock up on stuff when I see a good deal. Here in Ontario the limit restrictions seem to be gone so I'll buy four 500ml bottles of pure maple syrup for 6.99 each at Loblaws, one package each of farfalle, spaghetti, linguine and spaghettini when Barilla pasta in on for a buck.

Every time I shop I buy one can each of diced tomatoes and tomato puree. I just stocked up on extra virgin olive oil, toothpaste, and Tide detergent. I always have Campbell's chicken stock on hand but prefer making my own stock. I get several packs of ground turkey when on sale because my husband makes a killer Indian version of Shepherd's Pie with mashed cauliflower instead of potato. And I will buy 100 cans of cat food when I find it for 60 cents a can. I get the side eye when I do that; the crazy cat lady.

The only thing I'm growing, food wise, is beefsteak tomatoes because I have a hankering for caprese salad. Mmmm. There's currently about 25 tomatoes on one plant that I've had to support twice. Only two weeks to go for the first harvest.

 

[Warwick1991]

Hi friends.....I am making my "list" for tomorrow. Daughter and son-in-law go grocery shopping for me and for his Mom every Friday morning. If you arrive at the local stores between 7 and 8 am, everything is cleaned and stocked. We are looking for creole tomatoes and a/c filters along with milk and bread and eggs. It has been an adventure for them and for me. Sometimes I take a photo of the container I would like......like Duke's or Hellman's. Also getting some ingredients for meatloaf and gravy.
I think this is the fourth month of the "sit and stay"program.
Miss you all.......Lato (from southern Louisiana)

The only source of filters for my A/C was Publix. They stocked the fairly unique size used in my development, which is right near their store. However, due to mask issues, social distancing problems and terrible delivery service from Instacart, I couldn’t get my filters from Publix. I ordered some online from a company called Remember the Filter. It was more expensive, and I had to buy a larger quantity than normal. Quality was better than the ones in Publix, though. They are reinforced on both sides so they don’t bend in.

 

[branmuffin]

I had my fill of canned tuna growing up: Tuna noodle casserole, tuna loaf with creamed peas, tuna salad sandwiches in our school lunches, tuna salad stuffed tomatoes, etc. Enough! I can't even remember the last time I bought canned tuna. DH and I like ahi tuna steaks occasionally, and I've made tuna burgers with fresh tuna. Canned tuna? No way.

When we were kids in Ontario our parents used to drive down to Maine for our holidays. It reminded them of England. A couple of years we went to Bailey Island when they had the tuna tournaments. I was used to eating tuna and salmon sandwiches as a kid and because the meat came in the same sized can I assumed tuna were around the same size of a salmon.

So you can imagine my horror one day when I was on a dock looking at all these fish nibbling on something. I was told it was a tuna head, which I thought, no way could fifty fish be feeding one head, so the guy pulled the hook out the water so I could see a fish head that was about the same size as a toy chest! Yikes! Those fish they caught were sometimes over 800 pounds and on their way to Japan for sushi within hours of being caught.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Our extra stock items are mainly baking things. We must cook from scratch. They are even more expensive now.

Gluten free flour not made with any almonds.
Yeast packets.
Egg replacer.
Vanilla.
Flax milk.
Gluten free cereal and oatmeal.

I've frozen a lot more fresh fruit. Pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, etc for baking and smoothies.

I’ve canned marinara sauce and my daughter made jam.

I did pick up another pack of toilet paper the day after I opened the current pack. I normally would wait until it was 3/4 gone.

I bought a 6 pack of paper towels. I actually stress more over these than TP. When cooking they’re essential for cleanliness and food safety.

 

[killarney rose]

We have 5 cats. Three have to eat a certain cat food. So it's easier to feed it to all of them. Our local pet store orders it by the case for us. I keep two extra cases put back as sometimes their orders are delayed. That means we are working off six cases per month. But only two of those are extra.

 

[LadyL]

We have a pantry in our new house. Forget the deck and the 9 foot ceiling heights on the main floor AND the basement. It was the pantry that sold me. It had no shelves so I kitted it out with Ivar shelves from IKEA which are amazing.

I'm not a hoarder but I do stock up on stuff when I see a good deal. Here in Ontario the limit restrictions seem to be gone so I'll buy four 500ml bottles of pure maple syrup for 6.99 each at Loblaws, one package each of farfalle, spaghetti, linguine and spaghettini when Barilla pasta in on for a buck.

Every time I shop I buy one can each of diced tomatoes and tomato puree. I just stocked up on extra virgin olive oil, toothpaste, and Tide detergent. I always have Campbell's chicken stock on hand but prefer making my own stock. I get several packs of ground turkey when on sale because my husband makes a killer Indian version of Shepherd's Pie with mashed cauliflower instead of potato. And I will buy 100 cans of cat food when I find it for 60 cents a can. I get the side eye when I do that; the crazy cat lady.

The only thing I'm growing, food wise, is beefsteak tomatoes because I have a hankering for caprese salad. Mmmm. There's currently about 25 tomatoes on one plant that I've had to support twice. Only two weeks to go for the first harvest.

[bbm]

I guess it depends where and what. Walmart and Independent still have limits. Haven't been anywhere else lately. Canned beans at Walmart limit of 3.

I'm envious of your pantry!

p.s. I have 5 x 32 cases of wet cat food and 2 big bags of dry with 2 on order from the vet

 

[PayrollNerd]

I had to make quick trips into 3 stores tonight.

Sanding head on my sander broke, dang it. So, I zip into Home Depot - nearly everyone had a mask on. There were signs on the door and on a display board about them. At 5:30pm, it was deserted. Usually its full with people getting supplies for the weekend. Of course it was pouring buckets too. I made the cashier ring me up. I didn’t have gloves and wasn’t touching anything I didn’t have to.

Next stop, the dollar store, nearly deserted too.

Later at 8pm, I zip into Publix everyone had a mask on and there were signs on the doors. It was pretty deserted too. I noticed the shelves were very low on canned goods. Nothing specific was on sale either. I was able to get black beans, corn and black olives.

Slathered myself, my keys, my steering wheel, etc. in hand sanitizer after each store.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

I was just on Kroger.com shopping for pick-up, have you guys seen how LOW prices are for milk right now? $1.29 a gallon for regular vitamin D whole milk.

Is it the same in your area, or is this a local situation of oversupply as those cows have got to be milked?

I don't know when it was that low.

 

[PayrollNerd]

I was just on Kroger.com shopping for pick-up, have you guys seen how LOW prices are for milk right now? $1.29 a gallon for regular vitamin D whole milk.

Is it the same in your area, or is this a local situation of oversupply as those cows have got to be milked?

I don't know when it was that low.

It’s the milk surplus here in SWFL. We have a local dairy selling it for less at veg stands that local farmers have set up.

At my grocery pick up they gave me 2 gallons of whole milk. I have to give most of it away. I only drink a 1/2 gallon a week.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

RSBM The only thing I'm growing, food wise, is beefsteak tomatoes because I have a hankering for caprese salad. Mmmm. There's currently about 25 tomatoes on one plant that I've had to support twice. Only two weeks to go for the first harvest.

Dixie's version of Caprese salad is what I try to make for lunch almost everyday during the summer.

#1 Drizzle Bertolli Balsamic Glaze with moderna reduction on plate
#2 Plop 3 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
#3 Plop slice of mater on top of each piece of cheese
#4 Dollop cut up longitudnal thread slices of red onion surrounding
#5 Add 4 black olives to plate
#6 Add 4 anchovy stuffed olives (or your favorite green olive) to plate
#7 Add 4 pepperoni slices to plate
#8 Add fresh basil leaves to each stack (worst case, shake from spice tin)
#9 Drizzle more balsamic glaze

= Heaven each of the distinct flavors!

Ha, yesterday my "trunk delivery" at Kroger they substituted Mozzarella slices... the ones that are flat like Swiss cheese for hamburgers by Sargento. I had to go back last night to get reorder/refund/replacement. Not the same as the fresh mozzarella which I purchase in log form for my salads!

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It’s the milk surplus here in SWFL. We have a local dairy selling it for less at veg stands that local farmers have set up.

At my grocery pick up they gave me 2 gallons of whole milk. I have to give most of it away. I only drink a 1/2 gallon a week.

Folks here on this thread stated how to freeze milk. They said just as good IIRC. Said to leave a cup or so head space and freeze, then thaw it in fridge for daaaaays to thaw and shake and voila, was good to go.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Folks here on this thread stated how to freeze milk. They said just as good IIRC. Said to leave a cup or so head space and freeze, then thaw it in fridge for daaaaays to thaw and shake and voila, was good to go.

I’ve done that on occasion but it is just too much. I’m out of freezer space now. Last night, I literally threw away some very old chicken I found, just to be able to add fresh stuff.

 

[branmuffin]

Dixie's version of Caprese salad is what I try to make for lunch almost everyday during the summer.

#1 Drizzle Bertolli Balsamic Glaze with moderna reduction on plate
#2 Plop 3 thick slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
#3 Plop slice of mater on top of each piece of cheese
#4 Dollop cut up longitudnal thread slices of red onion surrounding
#5 Add 4 black olives to plate
#6 Add 4 anchovy stuffed olives (or your favorite green olive) to plate
#7 Add 4 pepperoni slices to plate
#8 Add fresh basil leaves to each stack (worst case, shake from spice tin)
#9 Drizzle more balsamic glaze

= Heaven each of the distinct flavors!

Ha, yesterday my "trunk delivery" at Kroger they substituted Mozzarella slices... the ones that are flat like Swiss cheese for hamburgers by Sargento. I had to go back last night to get reorder/refund/replacement. Not the same as the fresh mozzarella which I purchase in log form for my salads!

It HAS to be fresh mozzarella in ball or log form and packed it water. I live Caprese salad.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

It HAS to be fresh mozzarella in ball or log form and packed it water. I live Caprese salad.

Absolutely! I guess the "picker" at Kroger didn't understand the difference lol.

Great karma! My neighbor just this second dropped off some of her homegrown purple basil and tomatoes for me!

I'm in heaven! :happydance :

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

We must be beverage soul sisters. I drink my coffee black and like my iced tea unsweetened as well. I don't care much for soda pop either but will order a Coke on the very rare occasions when we get fast food burgers and fries. Oh, I guess I should say that I wouldn't say no if offered a root beer float.

My all-time favorite beverage is Perrier. We buy it by the case at Costco, and I probably have two or three bottles (16.9 oz) daily. We always have Diet Coke on hand, but neither of us drinks it often.